Central PA runners find inspiration in this year’s Boston Marathon

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A Lower Swatara Township couple says they run together for a reason. Albert and Lori Brulo run for the camaraderie and social aspects. Now, one year after the Boston Marathon bombings, their reason to run this year is in honor of everyone else. Albert crossed the finish line 30 minutes before the bombings last year. Be he ended up running back to the scene of attack.

He says, “I was to go back and meet my wife there at the finish line as she was coming across, she was scheduled to finish right at the time the bombs went off.”

Albert searched for Lori and admits, timing is everything. Lori finished the race a few minutes earlier and she was getting her medal at the time.

The Brulos will head to Boston this weekend. They’ll join nearly 100 runners from Central PA, including Gary Grobman, of Susquehanna Township.

Gary recalls last year’s marathon as a perfect day to run…until the attacks. The 61-year-old’s 8th race stand out from the others. He remembers hearing an explosion and seeing a big puff of smoke from the finish line. He knew it was a bomb. Then, 14 seconds later, another explosion. Grobman says he headed in the opposite direction, away from the attacks, but he had a hard time picking up the pace because he had just finished running the marathon. Although last year’s events motivate him to run again on Monday, a recent medical diagnosis may stand in his way. Grobman has Lyme Disease and he suffers from joint pains. But, he says he’ll make every effort to run this year.

He says, “If I can’t run the whole thing, I’ll run half and if I can’t run half, I’ll run a quarter and try to get to the start because I want to be a part of this race and reclaim it for people of Boston.”